After Guns N' Roses ringleader Axl Rose declared that the band's Chinese Democracy album would be released in 1998, fans got pretty excited. Unfortunately, the braided bad boy has promised the release of Chinese Democracy every year since then, making it hard for fans to remain that enthused.

After years of rumours, sporadic performances and bad publicity (remember the "World Tour" and the Vancouver riot in '02?), it looks as though Rose may not be lying anymore. Three new songs have "leaked" and are creating a buzz.

"There Was A Time" is a power ballad, while "I.R.S." and "Better" are hard rock pleasers in the G N' R tradition. Rose has also apparently included some high-tech noises and loops in the mix of the rumoured 13-track album.

The tracks found their way on to the internet this week after Rose told RollingStone.com that "people will hear music this year" at a tour kick-off party hosted by Korn in Los Angeles. Many radio stations picked up the tracks and threw them into heavy rotation before they received cease-and-desist letters. Rose's manager is also reported to have ordered websites to take down the "leaked" songs, and they seem to be complying.

Coincidentally, the apparent "leak" came after Monday's announcement that G N' R have booked European shows in May and June. They're scheduled to play Dublin, Ireland with Motley Crue as well as the Download Festival in the U.K., the NovaRock Festival in Austria and the Rock In Rio Festival in Lisbon, Portugal.